Hidden in Plain Sight
by HitsuKarinluv
Summary: There were some things Austria noticed that he didn't quite comprehend. The hints were there all along, he just had to look from a closer perspective. PruHun. Austria central.


Maybe it was the way she took control with more elegance than he had ever seen. Or maybe it was because she was the first woman he ever saw. Regardless, Austria had almost immediately fallen head over heels in love with the nation known as Hungary. Almost.

Almost because even though she was beautiful she was still a fighter. Even though she was a woman she acted more like a man. Almost because even though she seemed to be intelligent, she still talked to Prussia on a normal basis. Austria was devastated when he first began watching her from afar and realized how much she interacted with the obnoxious young man.

Surely she couldn't be all there if she thought of Prussia as good company. But then again, maybe she wasn't all there to begin with? After all, she fought more battles than a lot of other countries and enjoyed getting dirty. She liked to wield swords and guns with an expertise that many others couldn't compete with. She couldn't be all there if she didn't know she was supposed to act like a lady.

But that didn't change that he couldn't take his eyes off of her or the way her eyes lit up when she was doing something she enjoyed. Looking at her was the only time Austria felt the desire to reach into the world of adventure and yet he never really desired to take the full step.

Instead, he chose to watch from afar and hope against all odds that maybe she would look over and see his elegance and in turn see the kind of woman she could be.

As chance would have it that's exactly what happened... or at least he thought that's what happened. She was about to go to war with Turkey when she stumbled upon his house barely having reached physical adulthood and still calling herself a man. She had heard his piano playing and used the sound to find her way out of the forest she had gotten herself lost in.

Their conversation was short but purposeful that day. His own words still rang in his head:

"You should act like a lady instead of a barbarian. I'm sure you would draw much more positive attention that way."

A year later, she showed up at his house again wearing Prussia's clothing and asking for instruction on how to be a proper lady. Austria wasn't sure what he had done to deserve the miracle but he took it nonetheless.

Hungary.

Hungary was loud, uncivilized, and generally uneducated. But that was what Austria was there for: to improve this woman into something elegant enough that he could call her his bride. At first he had seen her struggle to ignore Prussia when he appeared out of nowhere and suggested a sword fight or a hunting expedition. Maybe that's when he should've noticed.

* * *

She had abandoned her sword and her way of life by year two. The only thing that remained was her incessant need to wield a frying pan as a weapon when she was angry. That was when Italy moved in with his brother and Rome disappeared.

He saw her take in the child almost immediately and without instruction. It was almost as if she was meant for the life of a doting mother. Nothing else he had taught her had come so easily. He hadn't seen her eyes shine bright like that for such a long time. Maybe that's when he should've known.

* * *

Italy's arrival brought more powerful nations along and struggles to control the small nation filled Austria's time. It wasn't until Austria had been captured by the Holy Roman Empire and they had all moved house that he had noticed Hungary's disappearance from his side.

She still lived in his house and they still had their lessons on how to be a lady, but for whatever reason he had not noticed that she had not followed him to the battlefield. However, he did notice how much more distant she seemed when he returned. The previous excitement she had demonstrated for being more ladylike seemed to have disappeared.

She made no move to return to her barbaric ways but her eyes wandered in lessons and when she failed she sounded more resigned than he had ever heard her. She clung to Italy when before she only doted on him from a distance.

Yet, from an outside perspective she seemed so much more like a woman than she ever had. Austria swept away his concerns and took the silent victory after all she probably just needed a day off to relax and re-energize. It was on Holy Rome's second return from world conquests that with an almost alarming certainty Austria recognized that he had not seen Prussia since the wars for Italy and only then at a distance. Maybe that's when he should've seen it.

He gave Hungary a day off the day after Holy Rome's return and she spent the whole day smiling and trying to nurture some sort of puppy-love romance between the tiny blond and even tinier Mediterranean nation in the house. Purple eyes watched in amusement as it seemed to be working. Purple eyes also thought they caught a brief look of utter despair on Hungary's face but when they blinked she was smiling again and Austria decided to ignore it. If there was something that was bothering her surely she would say something. After all, she had never been one to keep her opinions to herself.

...But he was wrong...

Just one week later he passed the door to her bedroom on the way to his piano and briefly caught a glance of her shaking form curled in a ball on her bed. He had taken two steps backwards then and had decided to enter the room and find out why she was crying when Holy Rome pulled himself up onto her bed and started trying to comfort her himself. The blond nation was small but he was mature for his age. Surely he could find out what was wrong with Hungary. And if it was serious then surely he would tell an older nation and everything would work itself out.

Besides, Hungary was strong, she could handle herself.

Holy Rome never came to him for help.

But Prussia appeared for the first time in what felt like forever the next week.

He said he was there to discuss important political matters with his younger brother. To be honest Austria had forgotten Holy Rome was related to the annoying nation. So, in shocked remembrance he let the white haired man into his house and started Hungary's lessons for the day. She was more clumsy and scatter-brained that day. Maybe that's when he should've seen.

* * *

Holy Rome left for battle the next month along with his older brother. If Austria was honest with himself he was more than a little upset about the tiny nation's departure. In fact, he was downright melancholy. He wasn't alone. Everyone in the house was depressed and Italy's hopeful waiting by the window only made everything worse. When news came back that Holy Rome had died, Austria, for the second time, saw Hungary cry.

They decided not to tell Italy but soon enough it was almost as if the child could sense it. Before Austria even knew what to do with himself, all the curtains were drawn and closed, the lights off, the atmosphere permanently broken like a mirror hitting the marble floors. Maybe he should've used that mirror. Maybe he should've seen what it reflected.

* * *

Prussia and France fought off and on for several years afterward. Austria had never seen Prussia lose so many battles or be pushed back so far. Had he not just lost his baby brother, Austria might've said that he deserved it. During these times, Austria felt like he would never understand Hungary. Some days she seemed like her old self: bright, vibrant, and excited to be alive. Others he felt like she could've made it rain with just the air that followed after her. Yet, she never stopped smiling and she always showed up to lessons. From an outside perspective, she looked happy. But Austria wasn't outside and he never cared for the outdoors, he knew something was wrong. But he assumed it was because of Holy Rome. Maybe he should've looked deeper.

* * *

Eventually, France's revolution rendered a more decisive victory for Prussia and the fighting came to an end. Austria had expected Prussia to make it out of the war fine; but, the way Hungary ran to him when he showed up at the house again suggested that she had not shared that expectation. Or maybe she felt the need to comfort him after Holy Rome... wait... was that Holy Rome?

Hungary had stopped just short of actually touching Prussia when something bright blond peeked out from behind Prussia's leg. Even from his place several feet away, Austria could see big blue eyes looking curiously up at the frozen Hungarian woman. Before anyone said anything, Prussia held a finger to his mouth and shook his head. Then they were gone as fast as they appeared and Hungary was despondent for the next three days.

Italy went to Spain's house to visit Romano the next week and Prussia reappeared golden-haired child right behind his heels. There was no explanation, only a request to not call the child Holy Rome. During their stay, Hungary followed the brothers around at a distance always watching them with curious eyes. That was the first time Austria took the step into the barbaric world of war willingly. He thought that if he fought to get the child to live in his house, the void would be filled where Holy Rome once stood. If only he could fill that void... then Hungary and Italy would be back to normal again.

So, he fought Prussia.

And forgot that compared to the white-haired nation he was inexperienced in battle.

And lost almost every battle.

When it ended, he remembered looking through blackened eyes and seeing the very child he was fighting to possess crying and running into Prussia's legs. The little blond boy hid his face in his brother's legs, sobbing and holding on for dear life. He remembered thinking that it didn't make any sense. The love this boy had for his older brother was incomprehensible. Why should such a quiet, well-mannered child attach himself to a wild war-nation such as Prussia? It would make more sense for the child to simply choose Austria; after all, they were much more similar in attitude and disposition.

He fell asleep in the battlefield that night, too exhausted and injured to move or make the trip home. He awoke in his own bedroom confused and unsure of reality. He sat up slowly to prevent the dizziness that he knew would come. He was also immediately greeted by a forceful shove back onto the bed and the world spun anyway. Fierce green eyes hovered over his purple ones. She demanded an explanation for his war with Prussia. He told her he was attempting to make her happy again. She was silent.

He tried to think of other things that would bring the family-like atmosphere back to the house.

So, he asked her to marry him.

She ran away.

Three months later, Prussia appeared again furiously grabbing him by the collar and demanding to know when he was going to be told about the wedding. To be honest Austria hadn't been aware that they were having one. He was also unaware of how the information could've reached Prussia. But none of that was important in that moment. Because one moment Austria had been afraid that he was going to have to go to another war; then, he had looked into Prussia's eyes and seen them swimming with a look of betrayal. Before he even had time to process it, the other man was gone and he was left in confusion.

Another three months passed and Austria found himself waiting at the end of a wedding aisle trying not to look over Hungary's shoulder at Prussia's unusually stoic face. He hadn't invited him so why was he there? More importantly, the man wouldn't make eye contact with him and he kept looking at Hungary like she had betrayed him. Nothing made sense anymore and it had all started years ago, back when they all fought for control of Italy. Suddenly, he was kissing his bride and he became a married man.

She closed her eyes but she didn't kiss back.

He should've caught on then for sure.

* * *

Four years later that small blond child reappeared as a mostly grown teen at a political discussion involving land and declared himself to be 'Germany'. Germany's very existence and proper title as a country unified the many Germanic nations to the north and suddenly, Prussia was no longer on the map. In all technicality, he wasn't a country anymore as he had joined with his younger brother to create one country but no one was actually going to bring that up.

Hungary cried again then and this time Austria had no idea why. He only knew that he had tried to bring up the recent politics to her to get her opinion and she had hit him with a frying pan, tears forming in her eyes. He didn't try to discuss it again.

When the First World War began, Austria found himself fighting happily on the same side as Prussia for the first time in his life. His and Hungary's Archduke had been assassinated. He had expected the red-eyed man to laugh and convince his younger brother to stay out of it. Instead, a fire lit in his eyes and he demanded his little brother to help them. It was when the First World War began that they all realized with a shock that Germany had out-grown all of them. He was no longer the little boy they had first fought over.

The First World War was the first time Hungary took up her own weapon again and fought alongside them. He remembered watching from a distance with a strange nostalgia as Hungary and Prussia swept through the battlefield. And then there was fire in her eyes again. And then she was exactly the way he had been trying to make her be for years.

It was then that he saw it. The thing he should've seen all along. It wasn't Prussia that was making Hungary different than she should be. It had been him all along. He had been trying to force a way of life on her that she would never quite be able to conform to. He had been trying to make her more beautiful than she already was and in doing so had taken on a task that was truly impossible to achieve. He had been trying to make her fit into the perfect stanza without realizing that she was already poetry when the world was still learning the alphabet.

* * *

The war ended with their loss and his world turned upside down. There were countries taking responsibility for things that had never been responsible for anything. All of Europe was tense from the political fallout of the war; but, most importantly, Austria had come to the decision to set Hungary free. She had never really needed him she had only come to him for help. She deserved the ability to make her own decisions and return to the life of adventure and passion she had lived before she moved in with him.

The day he handed her the paper, she cried again and he could almost feel his heart tearing at the edges. Almost. After all, he knew that she could be whoever she thought she was meant to be without him holding her back.

She took a week to sign the papers and then she was gone. She moved out during his piano practice without a word or any indication.

Austria found himself looking out the windows, watching for some display of the character she held long ago on those old battlefields. He watched for her youth and felt his own lying dormant. However, she was never outside his windows and he was not as young as he used to be.

Nearly a month after she was gone, Prussia showed up at his house again. It had started as the normal pestering and picking fun that the albino nation was known for. It was interrupted by the annoying man stating that he was surprised Hungary hadn't smacked him with a frying pan yet. It ended with Prussia going into shocked silence as Austria explained why she wasn't going to do that.

An hour later Prussia punched him in the face and told him he was insensitive.

The musician had no idea what he meant and so he just sat in the floor cradling his face.

Prussia claimed that Hungary loved Austria.

Austria had never even considered it as an option. He wasn't sure love ever entered their relationship on an open level. He told Prussia exactly that.

Red eyes gained the look of betrayal he had given him before when they had decided to get married.

"You're telling me you don't love Lizzy?!"

He sounded like he was in pain.

"That's not what I said. I only mean that our marriage was not one made out of love. It was made out of convenience. Out of a need for a place to belong to. She doesn't belong in the place the marriage created. I might've belonged there but for Hungary, even though she may not realize it, there is someplace better."

Prussia pulled at his hair, "Dammit, you don't even call her by her name. How could you do this to her? You were supposed to make her happy."

"She wasn't happy. She doesn't belong here. You can't be happy in a place you don't belong Gilbert. It just isn't what she needs."

Pale hands flew above white hair, "Then where would you say she belongs, asshole? If she didn't think she belonged with you she wouldn't have married you, you idiot! She loves you! If she didn't...if she didn't..."

If Austria didn't know Prussia better he might've said that that man looked helpless. But he did know Prussia better and he knew that if he had ever been helpless Austria would not be the person he showed it to. Instead, he focused on answering the question, "I believe... I believe she is happier when she is with you, Gilbert."

Gilbert froze and then shook his head, "That's not true. If that was true she wouldn't have moved in with you. She wouldn't have left behind the life she had with me. I'm telling you you're off because there's no way that you could be right."

Something burned inside Austria's core as he finally put into words what he'd seen for years, "Then tell me. Tell me why she was excited to learn to be a lady in the beginning; but, after we all fought over Italy and you stopped coming to visit that excitement was gone. Tell me why no matter what I did, she was always miserable and generally melancholy. Tell me why she never once told me what was wrong or came to me for comfort. Tell me why when she cried, Holy Rome comforted her and the next week you appeared. Tell me why she can't focus on anything she's supposed to when you're around. Why did she follow you the whole time you were here? Why was she melancholy every time you fought with France and lost? Why did she run to you when the war was over? Why was she angry with me when I went to war with you? Why did she run away when I proposed? Why didn't she kiss back on our wedding day? Why does the fire in her eyes only light up when she is by your side? Do you have an answer to that? Because damn if it's not because she loves you and she's loved you the whole time. We were both just too stupid to realize..."

Prussia flopped backwards onto Austria's piano bench, face in shock, turmoil in his eyes. He shook his head again, "You're wrong. You've gotta be wrong. Why did she move in with you, then?"

Austria shrugged, "Maybe you should ask her instead. I only know the things I can see."

Three deep breaths later and Prussia was gone.

* * *

Austria didn't see either Prussia or Hungary again until the Second World War There was no announcement and when he asked Prussia about it he was told that it wasn't official, even then; but, when Germany took control of everything and he saw them again, they were holding hands despite the tumultuous relationship between their governments.

Maybe it was the way she took control with more elegance than he had ever seen. Or maybe it was the way she smiled when Gilbert wasn't looking. Regardless, Austria was sure that Hungary had fallen in love with the obnoxious nation before he ever laid eyes on her.

After all, no one sane could be around that idiot without some form of affection. In all honesty, he was surprised he hadn't known when he first saw them together.

 **So, I thought I'd try a PruHun story that was mostly speculation and from an outside POV so here we are. Sorry guys for being so absent if you are from my chapter fics. I just got out of my first year of college and have been swamped with work. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this! Please Review it would make my day.**


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